NEEM, THE GREEN GOLD THAT INDIA IGNORES

The Neem trees (Azdirachta Indica) have started to flower all over India. Small delicate white flowers that irradiate a subtle and beautiful scent. The Mother of Pondichery, who had given names to all the flowers, had called the flowers of the Neem tree, “Spiritual atmosphere””, for not only if you sit under a neem tree, insects are kept away by its natural repellent properties, but the soft fragrance of its flowers and the thick green umbrella of its leaves, produce an atmosphere that induces to peace and meditation.

Since American firms such as WR Grace et Agridyne, have tried to patent Neem, the Indian Govt may have started realising that they may be sitting on a pile of gold. Or have they? Every third shop today in India is an allopathic medical store. Neem is one of the most neglected, underused, overlooked trees in India. Yet its properties are unique: its bark is wonderful against malaria and sometimes even early cancer; its oil extracted from its seeds and fruits is an excellent natural pesticide that has been used effectively to protect cashew nut flowers against insects (instead of the deadly pesticides that Tamil Nadu & Kerala farmers indiscriminately spray repeatedly). Its leaves, its seeds, its small branches, have unique medical properties that used to be known in India millenniums ago. “Neem is Shakti”, says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, for it discriminates. An antibiotic kills the good and bad microbes, whereas neem only eliminates the bad and spares the good”.

I have used neem for decades and it kept me healthy. Here a few simple easy to do yourself recipes:

1) Pick up about 20 young neem leaves early morning, wash them under the tap and put them in a blender with a glass of fresh (or mineral) water. Blend for 3 or 4 minutes. Strain it and drink that wonderful deep green juice before breakfast (for those who find it too bitter, add some liquid jagry). It keeps away worms and amoebas, clears your blood and is good for the liver.

2) Enema has become a dirty word today, but it’s a highly effective way of cleaning one’s intestines and getting rid of the poison that accumulates there, specially for the non-veg people. Pick up in the evening 2 or three whole young branches of neem. Wash them under the tap and boil them whole for an hour. Keep it covered for the whole night so it soaks well. You can administer yourself the enema in the morning in your own bathroom with a simple device that is cheap and easy to find in pharmacies. I recommend at least 3 repeats, 2 days in a row, four or five times a year.

3) Pick up the seeds of the neem tree, dry them in the sun and put them in a blender with one or two block of rock salt. The brown powder that comes out is an excellent toothpaste, that is not only good for the teeth because of its antiseptic properties, but rubbed gently on the gums, protect & strengthen them, something that modern toothpastes do not do.

Every time I see these adds on Indian TV, promoting some rubbish toothpaste or some miracle whitener (why do Indian girls crave for whiteness, when brown is so sexy and westerners spend billions in creams to get brown on their beaches?), it makes me mad. India has so much ancient medical knowledge still alive in Ayurveda and simple rural remedies such as neem, tulsi, oe Aloe Vera. We do hope that the craze for westernization that was also part of the Congress and Sonia Gandhi’s brief, will metamorphose in a return to the ancient roots with Mr Modi, while adopting all that is good in the West.

Finally, in our Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History, we have planted many neems and I a planning to have one station, while ascending to the main Museum (for the moment the seven buildings are on the lower side), where around a neem tree, its properties will be extolled in posters and films, in Marathi, Hindi and English. This will be my gratitude to the neem.

Meanwhile, once more, I appeal to your generosity : our Museum is a wonderful and unique project, which faces many difficulties, one of them being that most industrialists and rich individuals donate to education or hospitals, but are instantly wary of a private Museum, built by a French man (!), on Indian history, this most sensitive subject that has been falsified by the British and then kept under wraps (and Hindus vilified) by successive Congress Govts and by the historians associated by JNU, such as Romila Thapar and their correspondents in the West, like Wendy Doniger, Michael Witzel or Christophe Jaffrelot in France.

I need five lakhs at the moment to finish the Ahilyabhai building and obtain permissions for the main structure. We have tax exemption. Those who wish to donate can do so electronically to the trust account below or send me a mail at fgautier@rediffmail.com. For our substantial donors, we will give one or two reproductions of our original paintings (which can be seen at fact-ndia.com), all exhibited in our Museum in Pune, which is open from 9AM to 6PM every day. Please ask your friends in Pune to visit it. We have aarti every morning in our Mata Bhavani shrine at 9.30AM. the address is: Shivaji Maharaj Museum of Indian History, ahead of Marathwada Engineering College, Shinde road, Wadgaon, Pune 47. Namaste. Francois Gautier

Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism (FACT)

Savings Account No: 04071450000237. IFCS code: HDFC0000407

HDFC Bank Ltd

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3 responses to “NEEM, THE GREEN GOLD THAT INDIA IGNORES”

In rural places in India patients suffering from measles or chicken pox are slept on a bed of neem leaves, for a quick recovery. Neem leaves are used to worship local Goddess in many places in our country.

Francois Gautierji, I am your follower on twitter and love to read your blogs – I agree there was some ignorance about neem recently upto 20 years ago. However, there is a lot of awareness now, through the yoga and ayurveda movement. Some of the younger generations I have met, are leaning more towards allopathy unfortunately. However, Acharya Balkrishnaji, of the Patanjali Yogpeeth Haridwar, are pushing the local ayurvedic medicines, and making people aware of Neem, Tulsi, Giloy and lots of easily available herbs in India. Acharyaji, and Swami Ramdevji, were instrumental in getting the Chikun guniya under control, by distributing the above three plants to all Delhi-ites during the 2005 epidemic. Till then there was no known allopathic medicine to address this issue. They also encourage people to share plants with other people on Acharya’s birthday on 4th August. On Astha Channel Acharyaji speaks about one indegenous per day. It seems you live in India, so this must be second hand information.
I admire your passion for everything Indian, and it inspires us to have the same for our ancestral motherland.